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Rating: Definitely apocalyptic and massive, this "Redemption Process", the fourth effort from the French AN who have so insistentely drilled our eardrums with an inexorable and piercing wall of sound behind which lay the other side of their coin, a subtle and serpentine personality with a refined melodic attitude.
Will we find the same Anorexics in this latest episode? Yes and no. Indeed, their music has become both more robust and simultaneously softened: the compositions have become even more powerful and destructive, with a devastating cadence, yet upon close listening, we no longer hear the once rabid and hydrophobic Anorexia of "New Obscurantis Order"; in short, they have changed course, and significantly so.
This is evident right from the opening track "The Shining", which is one of the most apocalyptic songs I have ever heard. An intro of choirs, bells, and synth-violins (always skilled and flawless, Monsieur Neb Xort) that in a breathtaking ascending climax leads to utter chaos: the ever-vibrant and relentless drums, although in this album I find them too "blurred" and less prominent, Monsieur Bayle's always deafening guitar, and Hreidmarr's sharp and raspy scream.
Everything is in its place, yet something has changed. Everything has taken on a much more melancholic and autumnal note, the atmosphere is no longer the diabolical and infernal one of "Drudenhaus" or "New Obscurantis Order"; the sound assumes incredible pathos, the scene becomes more theatrical and dramatic, almost tragically heroic. Certainly, the violence is still present but now it’s just a fleeting shadow that permeates the almost gothic spirit of "Redemption Process", a title that makes one ponder its contents and the reason for such an intriguing change. Read the lyrics for proof: truly sad and filled with the supreme awareness of final judgment and desperate redemption at the coming of the Apocalypse.
And this theory is confirmed with "Antinferno", another highlight of the album characterized by a majestic and convincing main riff that immediately engraves itself into the mind and a chorus that gives me chills every time I hear it; the credit goes entirely to Neb Xort who has proven capable of weaving dizzying and captivating melodic spirals with trumpets, violins, choirs, and whatever else one might conceive. Note the middle section of the track where Hreidmarr ventures into a daring clean singing in Latin that gives it an air both sweetly desperate and assertive and thundering. Applause for such a track and for the extremely picturesque and increasingly tragic lyrics, a blend of anger and resignation to a fate in God's hands.
The album rises even further with the unforgettable "Sister September", a third masterpiece in a row slammed in our faces, and here I’ve run out of compliments and descriptions for a track so bewitching, melancholically sensual, and always chiseled by a faded and shadowed fury. It’s a pity that all good things must end, indeed the following track "Worship Manifesto" is completely anonymous and uninspired from every point of view, the classic filler that weighs down the listening, and even if other songs like "An Amen" and "The Sacrament" (the latter characterized by an absolutely Christian text) maintain acceptable levels thanks to the inclusion of actual jolting choirs, the real gem is found in "Codex-Veritas": colorful and solemn from the beginning, where authoritative trumpets spring up that seem genuinely played by the angels of the apocalypse, to the middle part, where all the majesty is condensed in an almost tear-inducing orchestral interlude, to the end, where the refrain is picked up and "Codex-Veritas" rises one last time before ending in silence.
In short, this "Redemption Process" is a highly successful CD that made me dream even more than the previous "New Obscurantis Order", even though I have awarded it a higher score. It's a pity for those few dips in tone, but I don't want to give away 5 stars without reason, so 4 full stars are more than fair for an album that has proven to be apocalyptic in every single aspect, starting with the wonderful cover art.
P.S. Forgive the annoying repetitions of "apocalyptic", but I just haven't found any better terms to define such atmospheres. Apocalyptic regards.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 The Shining (05:29)
1. The Shining
I just cannot cope with it anymore
Something is missing
My old faith is dead
I know you want some more force-fed hatred
And I'm gonna fill you up with a kiss
I found my redemption
I'm OD'd and there is no more entertainment
I found my redemption
And now the scene is so utterly dead
I failed
You won
My sin was pride
Excuse me my friends
I have to cast all aside
I have to clean up
Face the serpent's eyes
My life has been so deadly fake
Guess it is a fine day to bow out with grace
And at least angels are fading away
Suicide religion
“And I hate myself, you know I hate you all”
Suicide religion
Some time ago I'd have to write this down
Guess we know it all along
The light was shining in darkness
And darkness couldn't seize it
The light is shut in darkness
It's the shining
The shining
Je ne suis pas des vôtres
Et ce monde n'est pas mien
Reste l'ennui, reste l'orage
Reste la fraîcheur du soir
Et le droit eternal de rester immobile
Dans le temps suspendu
The light was shining in darkness
And darkness couldn't seize it
The light is shut in darkness
It's the shining
The shining
I don't want to hold this cross anymore
I'm bored to death
I'm abused and confused
And I guess that's how you want me to feel
Shall save my soul and leave it all behind
Suicide religion
“And I hate myself, you know I hate you all”
Suicide religion
Some time ago I'd have to write this down
Guess we know it all along
02 Antinferno (06:47)
In the very last days of judgment
I shall spread my spirit
Upon every flesh
Your sons and your daughters
They shall be prophets
And on this day it shall be done
Yes, upon my servants
I shall spread my spirit
And on this day, they shall inherit
For the first time you have to make a choice
Would you look down
Or look to the stars
To the ocean and far beyond
To the earth that is to erupt
To the red sky, to the storm
To the people who must die now?
A new cross rises on the hills of Jerusalem
Held by the arms of a stronger Christ
Now this is the very beginning of the end
Now lies have to be broken
Yes, cursed be betrayers
For they shall be left behind
And on this day, grace shall be redefined
For the first time you have to make a choice
Would you look down
Or look to the stars
To the ocean and far beyond
To the earth that is to erupt
To the red sky, to the storm
To the people who must die now?
Every one of us must know
That we are the very last ones
Martyrs and legends
Of a future New Testament
Cum aliguando vesperi
Atris nubilibus
Caelum cingitur
Cum auditor supra
Fulmen tonare
Statimpque exstingui
Sile, genua pone!
Vae tibi
Cum venatores
Aestu vesperis
Exsistunt!
Vae audaci
Qui nos in sublime
Adspicere vulti
Now look at me if you dare
It's so bright that it is blinding
A new cross rises on the hills of Jerusalem
Now that all of your nations
Are burned to the ground
Now that the words have no meanings
Experience the last sacrament
Be warm or be forgotten
Yes, upon the faithfuls
I shall spread my spirit
And on this day they shall inherit
A new cross rises on the hills of Jerusalem
Held by the arms of a stronger Christ
A new cross rises on the hills of Jerusalem
Held by the arms of a stronger Christ
A new cross rises on the hills of Jerusalem
Held by the arms of a stronger Christ
03 Sister September (06:33)
One deceiver
Among millions of others
One look
And you lover forever
One word
And you're the one to blame
Tell me
Who could live with this shame?
Something seems to be dead here
Undergo deconstruction
The symmetry of fear
Strange lack of seduction
My sister remember
Sister...
Sister...
Sister...
Sister September
An inner war is to come
Still he doesn't want to succumb
An ineffable loss of trust
One story
Turning into diamond dust
Something seems to be dead here
Undergo deconstruction
The symmetry of fear
Strange lack of seduction
My sister remember
It's obviously beyond his power
All certainties move towards their end
One question
And so many answers
Where's the crown he once transcend?
Sister September
Where are the dream's you've stuck in me?
Sister remember
I shall never, never forget the name of your devotee
A moment of beauty
Still it remains only a memory
A stunning artifact of the past
The one, the true, the last
Do I have to die under this autumnal sun?
Did I have to trust you?
Truly and madly and blindly
And what did I get in return?
Sister...
Sister...
Sister...
Sister September
Shall never forget the name of your devotee
Where are the dreams you have stuck in me?
An eternity of torture to me
Such a lot of pain
05 Codex-Veritas (07:07)
Incarnation I:
Learn to admit the Machine's emanations
Act of initiatory chivalry
Learn to see the dramas in the sky
Act of terrestrial abnegation
You are not one of them
Not the same breed
You always felt out of place
Join your true scene
You want blood, not peace
You want shouts, you want tears
Not wisdom
Some Divine in their afflictions
Incarnation II:
Learn to stand apart from all profane dogmas
Act of final mind revolution
Learn to not care about their punishments
Act of war and liberation
You are not one of them
Not the same breed
You always felt out of place
Join your true scene
You want fire, you burn
Want the Great, not the minor
The absolute
Black and blue
The forever storm
Harangue:
Gloria victis!
Fatum nostrum universiis majus
Gloria victis!
Gloria victis!
Lifecode:
Cleanliness and order in your modus operandi
Achievement of the Great Work
Obedience, silently
Vois la splendeur vermeille et la triomphante beauté
Et n'oublie jamais où se terre l'écarlate vérité
Acceptance of doing things
That are beyond your nature
Formal assurance that you are acting right
Whatever happens remember
That they could have no power at all
No power at all against you
Gloria victis!
Gloria victis!
Cleanliness and order in your modus operandi
Achievement of the Great Work
Obedience, silently
You are not one of them
Not the same breed
You always felt out of place
Join your true scene
You want blood, not peace
You want shouts, you want tears
Not wisdom
Some Divine in their afflictions
You are not one of them
Not the same breed
You always felt out of place
Join your true scene
You want fire, you burn
Want the Great, not the minor
The absolute
Black and blue
The forever storm
06 An Amen (07:28)
This is the creation of your world
Pain of endless days with you
Torture of never-ending nights, without God
All my idols are dead
No one risks living anymore
Come, come crashing in
Into my fake glory
Sick as your gods in the desert of skies
No, no one knows
No, no one cares
Hellish boredom
Nobody dares
Dead
All my heroes are dead
Never wanted this to happen
Never wanted to live in there
Just between the ant-hill and the opium-den
There's nothing for us out there
Innocence is lost
Speed up the fall and say Amen
There is death for the dogs
Destin rongé pa le remord
Un sacerdoce grave dans mon corps
Can't stop looking back
All my dreams are drowned
Days always pitch-black
Your Christ is crowned
Void's little helper addicted to wounds
Ran helter-skelter and hit the ground
And I wanted you hot
I wanted you so cold
But because you're half-hearted
I'll spit you out my tired mouth
Our existence is doomed
There's nothing for us out there
Speed up the fall
Say Amen
Our existence is doomed
There's nothing for us out there
Speed up the fall
Say Amen
Dies irae, dies illa
Solvet saeclum in favilla
Dies irae, dies illa
Solvet saeclum in favilla
Ecrance ritualle, prison de l''me
Les heures percent mon caur, autant de lames
Just a drop of social disillusion
And the army retreats in confusion
Forgive me for I don't wanna face the facts
I'm selfish and fearful and counterattacked
And I wanted you hot
I wanted you so cold
But because you're half-hearted
I'll spit you out my tired mouth
This is the creation of your world
Pain of endless days with you
Torture of never-ending nights, without God
Dead
All my heroes are dead
Never wanted this to happen
Never wanted to live in there
Just between the ant-hill and the opium-den
There's nothing for us out there
Innocence is lost
Speed up the fall and say Amen
There is death for the dogs
There's nothing for us out there
Innocence is lost
Speed up the fall and say Amen
There is death for the dogs
There's nothing for us out there
Innocence is lost
Speed up the fall and say Amen
There is death for the dogs
There's nothing for us out there
Innocence is lost
Speed up the fall and say Amen
There is death for the dogs
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